Electronica is both a broad group of electronic -based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to refer to electronic music generally.
54-607: The Roc Project is an American electronica act, composed of the New York City-based DJ Ray Roc and, most often, the vocalist Tina Novak. Their debut single, " Never (Past Tense) " was released in 2003. However, because of difficulty getting the song released due to Novak and Roc being signed to different record labels, Ray Roc decided to recruit the Australian singer Tina Arena to sing Novak's vocals instead. Arena's version of "Never (Past Tense)"
108-404: A "UK Electronica Festival" was first held. At that time electronica became known as "electronic listening music", also becoming more or less synonymous to ambient techno and intelligent techno , and was considered distinct from other emerging genres such as jungle and trip hop . Electronica artists that would later become commercially successful began to record in the late 1980s , before
162-413: A breakthrough into mainstream popular music when, in 1993, they released the single " Slid ". This became a club classic when it was picked up by DJ Sasha who liked it so much that he included three separate remixes of it on his Renaissance album. This burst of success was followed by two further singles, " Electric Guitar " ( sample ) and " Groovy Feeling ", and, in the same year, the release of
216-435: A commercial failure, as well as being very different in sound to the band's later works, the group persisted and released another two white label vinyls: "Thumper!" ( sample ) in 1989 and "Joni/Taxi" in 1990, a song that sampled Joni Mitchell 's " Big Yellow Taxi ". The attention that these records received gained the band a record deal with Creation Records with whom they released their first CD single " Philly " in
270-508: A commercially viable alternative to alternative rock music. New York City became one center of experimentation and growth for the electronica sound, with DJs and music producers from areas as diverse as Southeast Asia and Brazil bringing their creative work to the nightclubs of that city. Electronica benefited from industry advancements in music technology , especially electronic musical instruments , synthesizers, music sequencers , drum machines , and digital audio workstations . As
324-399: A compilation spanning their entire ten year producing history, and, in 2001, Progressive History XXX , a three CD box-set including many rare and hard to find mixes. Both releases were packaged with artwork from "Just Your Average Second On This Planet" 1997–1998, Discotheque by David Bethell The box-set contained black, red, white and blue versions of the same original cover art, and had
378-452: A different nature under various names. The first of these, the industrial music single "All Aboard", was released in 1990 under the name The Lucky Monkeys . At this early stage in their career, the band realized that they would experience the greatest artistic freedom if they had their own recording studio and took it upon themselves to obtain their own premises. This was an asset which, according to Fugler, proved invaluable in coordinating
432-489: A hedonistic serenity. In 1994, Fluke released The Peel Sessions , recorded for the BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel . This CD was a selection of tracks from two live sessions recorded on 18 November 1990 and 10 December 1991. The CD included one new song, "Time Keeper", and several tracks which had previously been released on vinyl only. Fluke were invited to perform two further, unreleased, Peel Sessions after this CD. One
486-404: A higher budget, increased technical quality, and with more layers than most other forms of dance music , since it was backed by major record labels and MTV as the "next big thing". According to a 1997 Billboard article, "the union of the club community and independent labels " provided the experimental and trend-setting environment in which electronica acts developed and eventually reached
540-490: A live album. They made several line-up changes over the years, with credited appearances attributed to Neil Davenport on guitars, Robin Goodridge on drums and Hugh Bryder as a DJ . In the tour for their fourth album Risotto (1997), they were joined on stage by singer Rachel Stewart , who continued as lead female vocalist and dancer for all of Fluke's live performances between 1997 and 1999. After Risotto , Tournier left
594-523: A live performance, including all three original members, with a show at The Tabernacle in London on 10 October 2009. In 2024, Fluke returned from hiatus with the single "Insanely Beautiful", released on 29 April 2024. Although Fluke produced music for the better part of two decades, they remained relatively unknown to a large scale audience and the band members themselves are even less recognizable. Fugler insisted in an interview with The Independent that
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#1732782426984648-638: A new album was furthered when, in 2003, the remaining members of Fluke released two singles forming the basis of this next album. Though the aptly titled " Slap It: The Return " signaled a break from the past, with the writing credits listed simply as "Bryant/Fugler" under the Appalooso label, " Pulse " exemplified a much darker style and was released on the One Little Indian label. In 2003, Fluke released their fifth studio album and first without Tournier, Puppy , six years after Risotto . The name of
702-551: A personification of the band's official mascot, a character from the Wipeout series named Arial Tetsuo. Stewart continued as lead female vocalist and as a dancer for all of Fluke's live performances between 1997 and 1999. While Bryant remained on keyboards and programming and with only Davenport being the constant touring member on guitars, Fugler and Stewart were able to motivate the crowd visually with vocals and dancing while Fluke's resident lighting technician, Andy Walton, provided
756-410: A poster of the silhouette image on one side and all other album covers on the back. In 2002, The Fluke DJs were formed, a live-show pairing of Fugler and Hugh Bryder. Bryder was a DJ who had assisted Fluke in their live performances since 1993 as well as working with other DJs such as Seb Fontaine while holding a DJ residency at MTV 's special event parties. This seemed to indicate further rifts within
810-477: A relentless pace. Sometimes, on Absurd, Atom Bomb and especially the top-notch Squirt, it takes a terrier-like grip on your concentration, with the muted vocals hissing in your head like Martian broadcasts arriving through your fillings. At this time, reused the Lucky Monkeys name for the release of " Bjango ", a single which included a remix by Fluke themselves. After touring for a year with Risotto on
864-409: A suitable technology-driven accompaniment to the music. In 2004, Stewart left Fluke indefinitely, instead focusing on a new project with EMF band member James Atkin, named Beauty School. We threw ourselves into being a live band, but it was always important for us to give people a real show rather than just stand there twiddling knobs. The number of Fluke's live shows decreased significantly after
918-473: A top-level genre, stating that it includes danceable grooves , as well as music for headphones and chillout areas. In other parts of the world, especially in the UK, electronica is also a broad term, but is associated with non-dance-oriented music, including relatively experimental styles of listening electronic music. It partly overlaps what is known chiefly outside the UK as intelligent dance music (IDM). In
972-475: A wide variety of musical acts and styles, linked by a penchant for overtly electronic production; a range which includes more popular acts such as Björk, Madonna, Goldfrapp and IDM artists such as Autechre , and Aphex Twin . The North American mainstream music industry uses the term as an umbrella category to refer any dance-based electronic music styles with a potential for pop appeal. However, United States–based AllMusic still categorizes electronica as
1026-452: Is clearly not proving that easy for them to develop beyond their old house style, notwithstanding odd moments such as the freeway glide of "Baby Pain" and the soulful choir on the closing, chill-out number, "Blue Sky". It's Nineties music for a Noughties world. The only single to be released from Puppy after the album's release was " Switch ", which was released in CD and vinyl formats. The track
1080-402: Is used for. I can only speak for the UK, but I'd find it very surprising if anybody listened to an ad for any kind of normal piece of product and went, 'Oh, I'm gonna take that as being minus points against this band or this composer or this act, because they're selling out.' I don't think anybody views it like that anymore. In 1997, Fluke's US sales totalled 14,000 which was modest compared with
1134-444: The "wider pool of people — musicians and friends — that we draw on to help". EMI asked Fluke to remix Talk Talk 's 1986 song "Life's What You Make It" for the 1991 album History Revisited which largely consists of new remixes of Talk Talk songs. The album was removed from stores after the band denounced it, saying they had not given permission for the songs to be remixed. After a two-year break, Fluke returned with what became
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#17327824269841188-509: The 200,000 copies of Dig Your Own Hole that The Chemical Brothers sold. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Fugler said that he felt that predicted figures for the US electronica boom were overhyped by people who were out of touch with the music scene. "The expectations came from the people who [had] nothing to do with the music, it came from the business level, people not involved with it." This lack of commercial success has not dampened
1242-671: The American "Electric Highway Tour", and having made two appearances at the Glastonbury festival in 1995 and 1998, Tournier left the group to pursue a different project named Syntax , with the band's long standing friend, Jan Burton . They produced just a single album, Meccano Mind in March 2004, which in turn produced two moderately successful singles and a live tour supporting Scissor Sisters . After Tournier's departure, two "Best Of" albums were released, Progressive History X ,
1296-578: The Grammys , produced a project that became known as Re:Generation. Fluke (band) Fluke are an English electronic music group formed in the late 1980s by Jon Fugler , Mike Tournier and Mike Bryant . The band were noted for their diverse range of electronic styles, including house , techno , ambient , big beat and downtempo ; for their reclusivity, rarely giving interviews; and for lengthy timespans between albums. Fluke produced five original studio albums, three compilation albums, and
1350-467: The North American mainstream music industry adopted and to some extent manufactured electronica as an umbrella term encompassing styles such as techno , big beat, drum and bass , trip hop, downtempo , and ambient , regardless of whether it was curated by indie labels catering to the "underground" nightclub and rave scenes, or licensed by major labels and marketed to mainstream audiences as
1404-484: The album also included the version of "Never (Past Tense)" with Arena's vocals. The group's second single, "Deja Vu", was released in the spring of 2004, and became a smaller club and dance hit than their debut single. This article on a United States electronic music band is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article on a house music band is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Electronica The original widespread use of
1458-535: The album was inspired by Jeff Koons ' fifty foot sculpture of a puppy that stands outside the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao . This album proved to be similar to the earlier Risotto tracks in tempo and mood, but with the introduction of some new ideas, such as the inclusion of a blues track, "Blue Sky", and a very dark techno orientated bonus track, "Pulse". The album was not received well critically with most of
1512-414: The band as this DJ combination included neither Bryant nor Tournier. However, Fugler denied these rumours shortly after they surfaced claiming that the band merely needed some time away from each other after their intense work on Risotto . In 2000, Fluke produced a promotional CD named The Xmas Demos , which included early versions of many of the tracks intended for the album Puppy . Speculation about
1566-501: The band's reclusivity was "less about selfish hedonism" than the revival of "a communal attitude that had long been forgotten." The main sphere in which the band had success is through their inclusion in advertisements, film and video game soundtracks. Among the more prominent of these appearances was the 2003 film, The Matrix Reloaded , using the Fluke track "Slap It" (also, "Another Kind of Blues") renamed to Zion for compatibility with
1620-448: The centrepiece of their next album, Risotto . The track was also released as a single from the soundtrack album Wipeout 2097: The Soundtrack , which had tracks from The Chemical Brothers , Future Sound of London , Photek , Underworld , Daft Punk , Leftfield and The Prodigy . Fluke's fourth studio album was the pinnacle of Fluke's mainstream chart success with the singles "Atom Bomb" and " Absurd " ( sample ). The album
1674-477: The critics labelling the album as dated. Andy Gill of The Independent wrote: Surely the longest-serving of UK dance outfits, Fluke have been a fixture on the national house scene for more than a decade now ... With their endlessly cycling layers of fizzing synths and those big filter-sweeps that were de rigueur a few years back - when the music recedes to nothing, then surges back again - tracks such as "My Spine" and "Hang Tough" could have been made at any time in
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1728-525: The film. Fluke's 1997 hit " Absurd " was used in the trailer for the 2000 remake of Get Carter , in the strip club sequence of the 2005 film Sin City and the 'Whitewash Edit' is included on the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider soundtrack which tied in with a commercial deal for Ericsson who sponsored the film and then went on to use "Absurd" in its commercials. In addition, it was used in
1782-551: The group to form Syntax with Jan Burton . Bryant and Fugler went on to produce Fluke's fifth and final studio album, Puppy (2003), and the pair subsequently engaged in a project under the name 2 Bit Pie , with their first album 2Pie Island released in September 2006. Fluke received mainstream attention through the inclusion of their music in various film and video game soundtracks, including blockbuster films like The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and Sin City (2005), and
1836-412: The group's second album, Six Wheels on My Wagon . This new album was a distinctly house music production, with uplifting riffs and ambient effects, as opposed to the techno style of their previous release. The album was received favourably by critics, with Billboard magazine labelling it "groundbreaking". Other reviewers went further, with The Independent suggesting that Fluke was to become
1890-506: The late 1990s and early 2000s , electronica was increasingly used as background scores for television advertisements , initially for automobiles. It was also used for various video games, including the Wipeout series , for which the soundtrack was composed of many popular electronica tracks that helped create more interest in this type of music —and later for other technological and business products such as computers and financial services. Then in 2011, Hyundai Veloster , in association with
1944-716: The mainstream. It cites American labels such as Astralwerks (the Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, the Future Sound of London , Fluke ), Moonshine ( DJ Keoki ), Sims , and City of Angels (the Crystal Method) for playing a significant role in discovering and marketing artists who became popularized in the electronica scene. Madonna and Björk are said to be responsible for electronica's thrust into mainstream culture, with their albums Ray of Light (Madonna), Post and Homogenic (Björk). In 1997,
1998-549: The next big thing in Europe: Fluke's Six Wheels on My Wagon represents the current high-water mark of modern ambient-groove music, showing that although this mode has effectively become the future sound of Europe, it's rarely done as well on the continent as in Britain. Though born out of the groove, the pieces on Six Wheels On My Wagon have a melodic flow which manages to combine elements of surprise and innovation with
2052-409: The past six or seven years. Maybe they were; whatever, they sound a tad cumbersome compared with the leaner garage beats favoured now. In "Snapshot", the juddering synth riff is the techno equivalent of the 12-bar blues, a standard form that has become all too easy for lazy musicians to slip into. Fluke may sing, "It's easy to change/ Go out and get a new name/ Forget yesterday" in "Switch/Twitch", but it
2106-455: The rough vocals and electronic feel that was by now characteristic of Fluke, but had a stronger emphasis on live playback and real instruments. In May 2006, there were club previews of two new 2 Bit Pie songs, "Little Things" and "Here I Come" ( sample ). On 4 September 2006, 2 Bit Pie released their first album, 2Pie Island , in the UK to minimal critical attention. No further albums were released. In 2009, Fluke briefly reunited for
2160-448: The same year. In the following year, Fluke released their first album, The Techno Rose of Blighty , swiftly followed by the single " The Bells " and a live album entitled Out (In Essence) . For the release of Out (In Essence) , Fluke abandoned their deal with Creation Records and signed instead with Circa Records, an offshoot of Virgin . Along with these releases, Fluke also began their career-spanning tradition of releasing work of
2214-441: The soundtrack album: Steel acknowledges that he "licensed the track for use in the film on the condition that it would also be included on the soundtrack." In this way, notes Steel, the song "earned significantly more money than if it had just been in the film". This kind of exposure was welcomed by members of the band, as Fugler said in an interview with Billboard : A band's success is based on what they do, not what their music
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2268-430: The soundtracks to the video game series Need for Speed: Underground and Wipeout . The film The Experiment (2010) uses their song "YKK" from Puppy . In 2024, Fluke returned from hiatus with the single "Insanely Beautiful", released on 29 April 2024. Before forming Fluke, Fugler and Bryant had played in two punk bands together named The Leaky Radiators and The Layfigures. The third member of Fluke, Tournier,
2322-445: The spirits of the band however, Fugler going on to say, "It’s not about being on the cover of a magazine." Fluke's live shows employed visual effects combining lasers and projected displays. Furthermore, Fluke's performances came in two varieties of show: performances as Fluke where the shows consist of entirely original Fluke material and shows under the alias "The Fluke DJs" where a combination of Fluke tracks are mixed with others in
2376-454: The style of a DJ set. Unable to attract major crowds, Fluke resorted to "festival-style" tours along with other acts to draw in a sizeable audience, as was seen with their participation in the "Electric Highway" tour in 1997 where they were joined by The Crystal Method and the " Pukkelpop " festival where they headlined with Metallica among others. When Fluke was touring for Risotto they were joined on stage by Rachel Stewart who acted as
2430-546: The technology developed, it became possible for individuals or smaller groups to produce electronic songs and recordings in smaller studios, even in project studios . At the same time, computers facilitated the use of music " samples " and " loops " as construction kits for sonic compositions. This led to a period of creative experimentation and the development of new forms, some of which became known as electronica. Wide ranges of influences, both sonic and compositional, are combined in electronica recordings. Electronica includes
2484-407: The term "electronica" derives from the influential English experimental techno label New Electronica, which was one of the leading forces of the early 1990s introducing and supporting dance-based electronic music oriented towards home listening rather than dance-floor play, although the word "electronica" had already begun to be associated with synthesizer generated music as early as 1983, when
2538-699: The term had come into common usage, including for example the Prodigy , Fatboy Slim , Daft Punk , the Chemical Brothers , the Crystal Method , Moby , Underworld and Faithless . Around the mid-1990s, with the success of the big beat -sound exemplified by the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy in the UK, and spurred by the attention from mainstream artists, including Madonna in her collaboration with William Orbit on her album Ray of Light and Australian singer Dannii Minogue with her 1997 album Girl , music of this period began to be produced with
2592-415: The uplifting house style that characterised their previous work. Only two singles were released from Oto ; " Bullet " and " Tosh ". "Bullet" was chosen by Dominic Pride of Billboard magazine as one of his top ten picks of 1995. In 1996, Fluke released " Atom Bomb ", a single that reached #20 in the UK charts. Originally created as a track for the video game Wipeout 2097 (Along with "V6"), it became
2646-519: The video game series NFL QB Club until its discontinuation in 2002. In the "Knight to King's Pawn" episode of the 2008 series of Knight Rider , the song "Absurd" was used by KITT to hide a secret message. "Absurd" is also used as the main theme for Sky Sports' Monday Night Football program first from August 1997 to May 1998 and since August 2010 to the current day. Where possible Fluke's licensing agent, David Steel at V2 Music, tried to ensure that when their tracks are used in films they also appear on
2700-453: Was broadcast on 10 November 1996 and the other was performed live on 8 December 2002. The following year, Fluke released their third album, Oto , which is the Greek word for " of the ear ". In terms of style, Oto was somewhat darker than Six Wheels on my Wagon , focusing on the downbeat ambient effects which were present in the second half of Six Wheels , and the band completely removed
2754-438: Was introduced to the group when he undertook work on a collaboration with Fugler entitled "Skin". It soon became clear that all three shared musical tastes, having a shared interest in the acid house scene and the more experimental electronic sounds of Cabaret Voltaire and Giorgio Moroder. Fluke's first single, released in 1988, was a white label vinyl entitled "Island Life", pressed on a clear blue 12" vinyl record. Although
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#17327824269842808-454: Was named Risotto after the risotto food dish because, like its culinary counterpart, it contained a mix of "ingredients". These included the singles "Atom Bomb" and "Absurd", new tracks "Goodnight Lover" and "Kitten Moon", the post-album single " Squirt " and reworked older tracks such as "Mosh", a remix of " Tosh " from Oto . David Bennun of The Guardian wrote of Risotto : Risotto pushes forward Fluke's slick, sophisticated techno at
2862-635: Was therefore the single release. It became a major club and dance radio hit in America , and even managed to peak at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart . It also reached No. 42 in the UK Singles Chart in April 2003. The Roc Project's first album was released in early 2003 and, with the record label issues finally cleared up, Novak appeared as the vocalist on all tracks, although
2916-518: Was used on the soundtrack for the Electronic Arts video game Need For Speed Underground 2 but achieved nowhere near the critical or popular acclaim of the singles from Risotto , not even appearing in the UK top 40. In late 2005, Bryant and Fugler teamed up with Jan Burton , Wild Oscar, Robin Goodridge, Dilshani Weerasinghe, Marli Buck and producer Andy Gray to form 2 Bit Pie with a limited release of " Nobody Never ". This track retained
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